Fatal Futures
by Blanco Pagina
Summary: #2 Winter Fic - Lily gets a little carried away when scolding Sirius, and regrets.


_Fatal Futures_

"Sirius! How _dare_ you speak to that girl that way!" Lily cried as she sped down the corridor towards Sirius. He looked up from talking to the third year in front of him, rolled his eyes, and went back to talking to the girl.

"So, really," Sirius continued on above Lily's shrieks, "It's completely silly to imagine being a sybil at your age. Or at any age, really, considering you have to be _born_ to the talent, not learn it from some mad old"—

Sirius was cut off as Lily barreled into him, knocking him to the ground. "Sirius!" She cried. Then turned to the girl and in a calmer voice said, "I'm sorry, Elizabeth, for Mr. Black's actions; don't listen to a word of it. Why don't you go show Remus over there your tarot cards?" She pointed to Remus, who was talking with James and Frank Longbottom a few feet away.

"Um, okay, Miss Lily." Elizabeth said cutely and hurried over to the boys.

Sirius, who was still on the floor, groaned.

"And as for you!" Lily suddenly noticed Sirius again. "What were you _thinking_, smashing that girl's dreams like that?" She kicked him. "What kind of vile person are you?"

"Ow, Lily! And I guess I'm a Black. Is that the answer you're looking for?" Sirius slowly stood and faced Lily with a vengeful expression. "Or maybe I'm just a realist, eh? Don't want to get their pretty little hopes up, do we, so they can all just get smashed away in this bloody war? Huh?"

"You bastard!" She whispered, looking at him with wide eyes. "Do you even care what happens?"

There was murder in his eyes now. He went to slap her – but was stopped by another hand.

"don't you _ever_ raise a hand against Lily, Sirius. Do you understand me?" James said in a low voice; it was almost a growl.

Sirius turned to James, as if to hit him instead, but his jaw only slackened a bit and he spun around, stalking down the hallway.

Lily watched him go, still not believing that he could care so little.

Then James lightly turned her to face him. "Are you alright?" Was all he asked as he looked intently at her.

"oh, James…" She sighed, sniffed, then buried her face in his shirt. He hugged her close and brushed away her hair.

"What is it, Lily? What's wrong?" He asked steadily, but she could hear the worry in his voice. Her tears soaked his shirt clean through, and she clutched his back so tightly that even Lily herself would have had trouble with an unwrinkling charm. "It's just this bloody war. Everyone looks up to us and expects us to be brave and encouraging, but when I walk down the hall and see Sirius tell an innocent third year that she can't be whatever she wants to be…well…"

"You don't understand Sirius' point-of-view, Lily. His dreams were always destroyed by reality, so when he sees others with dreams like his the only thing he can think of to do is stop them before someone not-so-nice rips their dreams away. It's the only way he knows." James explained.

"Oh…" Lily sighed again, stepping away from James and wiping her tears. "That's horrid. What kind of family was he raised in, that he would do that tom someone?"

"The Black family." Said Remus, as he drew up beside them. "The kind of family that would do that to him a dozen times over."

"But…and he…oh! That's terrible!" Lily looked woefully down the corridor he had vanished. "Maybe if I went and…"

"No, Lily, let him go. He understands." James turned her back to them.

"And if he doesn't, we'll explain." Remus reassured her.

"Thank you, you guys. I feel so bad, now. Are you sure he'll be okay?" Lily hugged James again, and Remus in turn.

"He'll be fine." James smiled his crooked smile at her.

And Remus whispered, "Let's just hope everyone else is too."

_Fin_

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A/N: A bit more depressing than usual, I'll admit. Not sure what this was SUPPOSED to be, but it certainly wasn't this…Oh well. I like it anyway.

This is fic #2 in my Winter collection! Woot!

Don't forget: check out my profile for updates, and also please check out my challenge! It's for Maximum Ride fans. And if you haven't read Maximum Ride, then you should!

Any suggestions for my next fic? My ideas are dwindling already… *sadface*

3 Happy Holidays!

-Bub'les


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